Life Insurance and Living Benefits

It has been said that the definition of a banker is “One who gives you an umbrella on a sunny day, and takes it away when it rains”.  In other words, when things are going well, you can get what you want, but when the problems in life begin, you are left to fend for yourself. Buying life, disability or critical illness insurance is another one of life’s pillar’s where you need to solve the problems before the problems happen.  Underwriting is a key factor in the insurance world; both financial as well as physical underwriting is important at the time of application. You must be able to show that you have the financial means to pay the premiums and that you also have the need. Furthermore, you must prove that you are physically healthy, and in some cases your relative’s health is also considered.   Here is the problem : A younger person may not see the need for insurance because the traditional “needs” have not appeared yet. You are not married, have no kids, don’...

Yes, you can own a single life insurance policy that covers two people.  Purchasing this type of insurance is very common when you are either in business, or you have a mortgage and wish to cover both spouses. In the simplest of terms, it’s called a “joint and first to die” policy. The intent behind this policy is to provide coverage where the death benefit is needed on both people, but after a death benefit is paid, the survivor does not require coverage on themselves. Examples might be where a death benefit is required to pay off a personal mortgage on a home; or a business a policy might be needed to fund a buy sell agreement at the death of one partner. From a premium perspective the cost of this coverage is a little less expensive than buying one separate policy on each person. It’s also interesting to compare the pricing with banks where it is common for people to buy coverage to cover the mortgage. Recently I was advising two clients (male age 41 and female age ...

Do you need Life or Disability insurance but you are concerned about the application process? Applying for coverage should not be hampered by the process itself. Here are a few tips on making sure your application gets through the process. Understand that the insurance companies want the policies to get issued too, so they are on your side. They (the insurance companies) want to see you on a good day, not one of your bad days. You really can’t prepare for the application like it was a math test; however, you can improve your results by following a few steps. First of all, if you exercise, don’t go for a heavy workout just before any blood test or paramedical. The bouncing of a heavy jog might increase the chances of depositing minor traces of blood in your urine. Therefore, skip the workout for a day. If you smoke, don’t squeeze in one last smoke just before a blood pressure check. The cigarette might just increase your blood pressure reading temporally. Drink plenty o...

When buying life insurance a person will want to consider various factors about their financial needs and about why they want insurance in the first place. What do you want to protect? What is an affordable premium? Are my needs flexible? What is the ideal amount of coverage? Do I only require temporary protection? By asking these questions, the type of policy that will fit your need becomes apparent. While there are many types of policies today, we will explore “Term” insurance. How substantial you policy should be is also determined by things like mortgages and how complex needs become. Small business owners, for example, may want a fixed rate payment to help with budgeting, where a young family may use coverage as an aid in paying tuition. To begin with, “term” insurance refers to a life insurance policy where the premium is locked in for a specific number of years. The term is the number of years. For example, a 10 year term policy carries a premium which is guaranteed f...